Resilient upholstery pad



S. A. WALKER Filed Aug. 4, 1938 INVENTOR. Sheridan A Walker RESILIENT UPHOLSTERY PAD ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 3, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RE SILIENT UPHOLSTERY PAD Application August 4, 1938, Serial No. 223,022

4 Claims.

This invention is an upholstery pad adapted to be incorporated in upholstery of Various kinds, such, for example, as used on chairs or other articles of furniture, inner spring mattresses, automobile car seats, etc.

In applying upholstery it is the universal practice to employ helical springs set with their axes Vertical and arranged side by side. The top of these springs are generally covered with padding, such as cotton, hair, kapok, or the like which is covered by a suitable fabric. In some forms of upholstery appropriate fabrics, such as tapestry and the like, are placed over the padding cover and the whole is commonly tufted. The difculty experienced with upholstery of this kind, whether the same be in furniture, inner spring mattresses or automobile seats, is that the padding tends to settle or sink into the upper ends of the helical springs. In other Words, the springs work through the padding and form an uncomfortable seat. Attempts have been made to overcome this difliculty, such, for example, as set forth in my allowed application, Serial No. 756,013, wherein a series of flexible steel bands are laid over the top of the helical springs in parallel relation in the common plane of the upper ends of the springs, so as to form a platform on which the padding is supported and maintained. This construction While highly eflicient for the purposes stated is not entirely satisfactory for all constructions or all uses, and the object of the present invention is to provide a simple and economical upholstery pad which may be handled as a unit in building up upholstery for inner spring mattresses, automobile seats and furniture of all kinds.

In its preferred practical form the present invention comprises a pad having therein thin steel bands arranged in parallel relation between superimposed layers of padding and held in place by pocket strips which are secured to the padding and to an appropriate cover or fabric envelope in such manner as to engage with the ends of the spring bands in such manner as to permit of appreciable floating movement of the bands. The pocket strips are of fabric and enclose only the end portions of the bands, leaving the intermediate portions of the bands in direct contact with the padding.

My experience has shown that resilient steel ban-ds will not function properly if their ends are in engagement with padding material, such as cotton or the like, for the flexing of these bands will cause the ends thereof to dig into and tear the cotton or other padding apart, so that in a relatively short time the bands will protrude through the padding into contact with the fabric envelope cover. I have also tried the entire enclosing of the bands in fabric sheaths, but

such an arrangement is expensive as the sheathsl` must be sewed up with the bands in place and this requires expensive machines and slow manual operation.

With the present invention, in contradistinction, it is possible to make up the pocket strips:

by the running yard before the steel bands are associated therewith and they may be assemled on the padding in proper relation before the steel bands are inserted and thereafter the steel bands may be sprung into place to completeiA the assembly. This permits of Very economical manufacture, thoroughly protects the padding from the ends of the steel bands, permits the bands to move while they are being flexed under ordinary use Without drawing the pad out of,-

shape and provides a thoroughly efficient upholstery pad adapted for wide and general application.

Features of the invention, other than those adverted to, will be apparent from the herein` after detailed description and claims, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

The accompanying drawing illustrates different practical embodiments of the invention, but

the constructions therein shown are to be un-v Figure 4 is a fragmental plan view showin-g theeuse of staples in lieu of thread stitching illustrated in the other figures.

In manufacturing the pad of the present invention I first lay down a sheet of fabric I which, in practice, may be of some strong cheap. material of a Width and length appropriate to the particular use in which the finished structuregis to be employed. This sheet I may be termed the under or bottom cover. On this cover is placed one or more layers of padding 2 of cotton or the like, which are preferably co-extensive with the sheet I. I then place upon the padding 2 pre-formed pocket strips 3. These strips are made in advance by the running yard and can be rolled up in a coil to be uncoiled and cut off to desired lengths. They may be made from canvas, burlap, or any other suitable cheap material sufficiently hard to withstand the wear of the steel bands. The pocket stripping is made by folding the fabric upon itself transversely with one iiap 4 somewhat shorter than the other flap 5 and then securing these iiaps together by transverse lines of stitching 6, as shown in Figures l and 3 or by staples, as shown in Figure 4, to form pockets in spaced relation longitudinally of the strip. These pockets are made somewhat larger than the steel bands 1 which they are adapted to receive and they are closed at three sides and open at the fourth side.

The pocket strips are laid on to the padding 2, as shown in Figure 1, and are arranged in spaced apart parallel relation, the spacing being such that the bases of opposed pockets are a distance apart slightly greater than the length of the bands 1. After being positioned, as stated, they may be temporarily secured in place by staples or otherwise, but are shown in Figure 1 as anchored in place by lines of stitching 8 l which extend through the pocket strips through the padding 2 and through the under cover l. In this way, all of the parts thus far assembled are secured together in definite predetermined relation and can be readily handled without getting out of place with respect to one another.

The spring bands l are next successively inserted after the manner shown best in Figure 2. That is to say, one end of a band is slipped into one of the pockets 9, while the band is bent into the position shown in dotted lines in this figure. Ihe band is then flexed or bowed, as shown in dot and dash lines in this figure, so as to foreshorten it suiciently to permit its free end to be introduced into the opposing pocket l and when thus introduced, it is released and attens to its normal position indicated in full lines in this figure. The introduction of these bands is facilitated by the projecting portions of the pocket strips, so that there is no tendency of the steel bands to dig into the padding while they are being introduced.

It is to be noted that up to the time the bands are inserted, as stated, the whole structure remains flexible,` and can be readily handled on a Sewing machine or the like, which would not be the case if the bands were sewed into place during the formation of the pad.

After all the bands have been inserted in the manner stated, one or more layers of padding il temporarily anchored in by staples or a few stitches for the stitches or staples I3, which are finally employed, bind the whole structure together in a manner to anchor all of the parts of the structure in place.

The top cover l2 may be burlap, canvas, or

other cheap material if a tapestry cover is to be placed over the whole or, if desired, the cover l2 may be a fine fabric adapted to form the outer cover of the assembly. This latter construction is` particularly preferable where the structure is to be used for automobile seats, for it may be mounted over an ordinary seat chassis with associated helical springs and the edges of the pad drawn over the front, back and sides of the seat and anchored to the bottom of the chassis without any other upholstery operation on the chassis. It thus provides a Very economical automobile seat. as similar uses in other fields, the pocket strips are set well in from the edges of the pad.

It will of course be understood, however, that when the upper cover i2 is of burlap or the like, the pad may be mounted on a spring chassis in any appropriate way and any suitable ne fabric cover mounted thereover according to approved upholstery practice. This is, however, not necessary in accordance with this invention.

An important feature of the invention resides in the fact that the steel bands are of thin resilient material and are floatably supported in the pad, so that if the weight of a person is imposed upon two or more of these bands to the exclusion of the cthers, the flexing of the bands, to conform to the person, will not cause the whole structure to be drawn or warped out of shape, for these bands will simply fcreshorten to the degree neces- Sary to conform without placing any tension on the other bands. IIhe oating mounting of the bands is thus important as it materially lessens the strain on the structure and permits the bands to more easily adapt themselves to the contour of the person.

Moreover, these bands are of a suiiicient width to bridge the underlying helical springs and to support the Weight of the person in such manner as to distribute the same over a number of such springs. At the same time the padding eliminates all noise. It is impossible with the pad of this invention to get a squeak out of the structure.

If it is desired to manufacture the device of this invention without any stitches whatsoever, it is possible to secure all of the parts together to produce the structure hereinbefore described by using staples only. When this is done I lay down at the bottom cover fabric, then place the lower padding thereon, then lay strips of fabric about a foot wide in proper spaced apart parallel relation, then lay the metal bands so that their opposite ends extend about half Way across each of these strips, then fold over the projecting marginal portion of the strips to overlie the metal bands, then place the upper padding over the structure, and then staple through the whole assembly between the bands so as to simultaneously secure all the parts together with certain staples going through the pocket strips to form the pockets to which I have referred. Therefore when I refer to the use of stitching I wish it understood that I can employ either stitches or staples and I may even employ eyelets or other fastening devices to maintain the parts in assembled relation while the ends of the steel bands Y are guarded within pockets and are capable of floating sufficiently to properly flex under ordinary use without pulling or warping the padding out of shape. The foregoing detailed description set forth the invention in its preferred practical forms, but the invention is to be understood as fully commensurate with the appended claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A resilient upholstery pad comprising upper and lower covers, upper and lower layers of pad- -ding between said covers, relatively rigid, wide To permit of this use, as wellP and thin bands of resilient sheet material arranged side by side in` spaced parallel relation in a common plane between the upper and lower layers of padding, a pocket strip extending transversely of the bands at each of the opposite end portions thereof, each pocket strip having pockets arranged. in spaced apart side by side relation, with the corresponding pockets of both strips respectively housing the opposite ends of the bands in loose tting relation to floatably support the bands therein with the greater portions of the length of the bands exterior of the pocket strips, and means for securing together the upper and lower covers and the layers of padding and the pocket strips to maintain these parts in assembled relation- 2. A resilient pad comprising upper and lower covers, upper and lower layers of padding between said covers, relatively wide and thin bands of spring steel arranged side by side in spaced parallel relation in a common plane between the upper and lower layers of padding, fabric strips extending across the opposite end portions of all of said bands and folded over the ends of said bands to enclose said ends within the folds of said strips with the greater portion of the length of said bands exterior of said strips, and means passing through the upper and lower covers and through the interposed upper and lower layers of padding and through said folded over fabric strips between each two adjacent spring` steel bands to maintain the parts in assembled relation with the bands spaced apart therein.

3. A resilient upholstery pad comprising upper and lower covers, upper and lower layers of padding between said covers, relatively wide and thin bands of spring steel arranged side by side in spaced apart parallel relation in a common plane between the upper and lower layers of padding, fabric strips extending across the opposite end portions of all of said bands and folded over the ends of said bands to enclose said ends within the folds of said strips with the greater portion of the length of said bands -exterior of said strips, and staples passing through the upper and lower covers and through the interposed upper and lower layers of padding and through said folded over fabric strips between each two adjacent spring steel bands to maintain the parts in assembled relation with the bands spaced apart therein.

4. A resilient upholstery pad comprising upper and lower covers, upper and lower layers of padding between said covers, relatively rigid, wide and thin normally straight bands of resilient sheet material arranged side by side in closely spaced apart parallel relation in a common plane between the upper and lower layers of padding with their ends unattached to permit them to individually longitudinally float and individually partake of reverse curvature when a human figure in respose is lying thereon and said bands terminating within the connes of the pad, and means passing through the upper and lower covers and through the interposed upper and lower layers of padding and between the spaced apart bands to maintain these parts in assembled relation with the bands laterally spaced therein.

SHERIDAN A. WALKER. 

